The moment I unboxed the Xiaomi 15 Ultra but noticeably heavier than the Galaxy S25 Ultra
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Finally, I found an Android phone that can replace my $3,500 Sony camera
Powering this year’s model is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which, when paired with 16GB of RAM and a rather well-optimized HyperOS skin over Android, delivers a snappy, near-burdenless software experience. I’ll still knock on Xiaomi for the excessive bloatware, including pre-loaded apps like WPS Office and AliExpress. But beyond that, the device almost never stutters or drops frames, even when I use it after running benchmarks. It’s that optimized.
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For charging, you’re looking at 90W wired and 80W wireless ratings, which aren’t record-breaking at a global scale but essentially twice as fast as the best phones in the US (sans OnePlus.) You’ll need the proper charging brick to achieve faster charging speeds, but the efficiency is well worth it. It’s just unfortunate that Xiaomi downsized its battery to a 5,400mAh capacity when the China version of the 15 Ultra has a 6,000mAh size.
A range of shots captured with the 200MP sensor, with no adjustments or edits.
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
It’s a big spec bump from last year’s 50MP sensor, and the added pixels help when you capture photos in low-light environments or want to crop in after the fact. Just know that the optical zoom has been shortened to 4.4x from 5x, which may take some getting used to if you’re coming from an iPhone or Samsung with 5x.
I’ve been testing the 200MP camera for portraits, landscape shots, and recording cinematic video in Pro mode, and the results made me consider retiring my $3,500 Sony A7S III